Creativity-Innovation-Leadership-Strategy-Culture-Change Management

Organizational Culture – How it Forms

Marvin Bower (1903-2003), author of The Will to Manage (1966), explained organizational culture as “…the way…we do things around here”. In his book The Lords of Strategy author Walter Kiechel, III, describes Bower as overly prescriptive. Bower referred to the concept not as organizational culture but as corporate philosophy, explaining how teams or groups would take some sort of stand, when it comes to deciding how to perform the task requested of them. In Authority (1980), Richard Sennett claimed while “…it is easier to see the emotional commitments made in a family, than in a factory, the emotional life in [the factory] is equally real”. Sennett’s views on organizational culture add much to the discussion. Edgar Schein is recognized around the world for his work on organizational culture; he distinguished between “macro” cultures and sub-cultures in Organizational Culture and Leadership (2010). Among the first explorations of cultures inside organizations is Dr. Elliott Jaques’ The Changing Culture of a Factory: A study of Authority and Participation in an Industrial Setting (1951). Jaques described three main processes evident inside the organization: 1) the sanctioning of authority; 2) the operation of authority (the executive system); and, 3) social adaptation, thereby illuminating the resistance to change. Schein drew on Jaque’s third process, emphasizing the roles of external adaptation and internal integration. From Schein’s work we understand these workers are trying to avoid uncertainty. Jaques emphasized, “the general suspicion and anxieties of individuals and groups are liable to become attached to particular practical issues and difficulties, so much so that the resolution of these practical, and maybe trivial difficulties is thereby seriously obstructed.” Herein do we see the relevance of emotions (anxieties) to the process of change management, and the challenges faced by leaders whose responsibility it is to ensure innovation thrives.